Twelve teams will contest the inaugural edition of the Champions League Twenty20, to be held in India from October 8 to 23.
Royal Challengers Bangalore and Deccan Chargers, the finalists in the second edition of the IPL, and Delhi Daredevils, the top team of the league stage, will compete against the top two domestic T20 teams from South Africa, England, Australia and the domestic T20 champions from New Zealand, West Indies and Sri Lanka.
The teams will be divided into four groups of three each and initially play each other on a league basis. The top two teams from each group qualify for the second stage and four teams from the second stage make it to the semi-finals.
The tournament will witness 23 matches.
Victoria and New South Wales will represent Australia, while the Cobras and Eagles will represent South Africa.
The tournament carries a prize pool of US $6 million.
An initiative of three founding members -- the Board of Control for Cricket in India, Cricket Australia and Cricket South Africa -- the Champions League Twenty20 is a platform where the best-of-the-best in domestic club cricket in the world will get the opportunity to pit their cricketing skills against each other.
ESPN-STAR Sports hold the commercial rights for the tournament for 10 years.